Food packaging machine



M y 1965 .1. M. TINDALJ. 3,183,64fi

FOOD PACKAGING} mmma Filed Sept. 28, 1962 :5 Sheets-Shut 1 ROL L WA XFORMER I PAPER TAPE CUTTER TRIM/8F E R ME C H.

SLICER n WE/GH/NG CARTON/N6 CASING ,9 AND SHIPPING I INVENTOR (/0)??? MZ2 72 0 62 [Z May 18, 1965 J. M. TlNDALL F001) PACKAGING MACHINE FiledSept. 28, 1962 .3 Sheets-Sheet 2 ll IIHIHHHIIH THI Hr JIwEJI 3 m &

"II III II II I May 18, 1965 Filed Sept. 28, 1962 J. M. 'l'lNDALL3,183,642

7 FOOD PACKAGING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 United States Patent 3,183,642FOOD PACKAGING MACHINE John M. Tindall, 522 Greenleaf Ave, Wilmette,Ill. Filed Sept. 28, 1962, Ser. No. 226,881 11 Claims. (Cl. 53-251) Thisinvention relates to a food packaging machine, and more specifically, toa machine particularly suited for use in connection with the packagingof sliced food products such as bacon, luncheon meats, cheese and thelike.

In my Patent No. 3,015,583, issued August 28, 1962, I disclose aroll-type bacon package in which a plurality of bacon slices are carriedby a spirally-wound web of grease-resistant paper or plastic material,the roll being disposed within a carton and being rotatably supportedupon a spindle provided therein. As the web is pulled outwardly througha side opening in the container, the roll unwinds and the bacon slicesare extracted one-byone upon the Web. Since the portion of the web beingwithdrawn from the container at any given time extends tangentially withrespect to the roll, a peeling action occurs between the undersurface ofthat portion and the outermost slices remaining on the roll and,therefore, bacon slices may be readily withdrawn from the package eventhough the slices have become hardened from refrigeration.

A principal object of the present invention is to provide a machinesuitable for use in loading and winding bacon slices and the like uponwebs to form rolls of slices for use in such packages. Another object isto provide a machine capable of loading the webs for a plurality ofrolls in quick sucession, the machine operating automatically to carrysuch slices from a slicer to the webs. A still further object is toprovide a high-speed loading machine which is adapted to cooperate witha conventional slicer and which therefore is useable with much of theexisting equipment in present-day packing plants.

Other objects will appear from the specification and drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of a machine embodying the presentinvention, the machine being shown partially diagrammatically and inconjunction with diagrammatically-represented related equipment forpurposes of illustration;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is an elevational view of an alternative roller cam useable inthe machine of the present invention;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged cross sectional View taken along line 5-5 ofFIGURE 1;

FIGURE 6 is an elevational view taken along line 66 of FIGURE 1.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings, thenumeral 10 designates a horizontal platform or frame having a pluralityof longitudinally-extending and uniformly-spaced parallel partitions 11along the top surface thereof, the partitions defining a plurality ofparallel troughs or channels 12. In the illustration given, 12 suchchannels are provided although it is to be understood that a greater orsmaller number may be used depending upon the intended capacity of theunit.

3,.l33,h42 Patented May 18,1965

Above the platform and extending transversely with respect to thechannels thereof is a feed assembly generally designated by the numeral13 and comprising a carriage 14 mounted for horizontal reciprocatorymovement upon a pair of transversely extending tracks 15. As shown inFIGURE 5, the tracks are generally C- shaped in cross section and arearranged in spaced concave opposing relation, the generally horizontallower stretches 16 of the tracks supporting the side wheels 17 of thecarriage 14. Tracks are stationary and are rigidly secured to a floor orsuitable stationary supporting structure by any suitable means.

Carriage 14 comprises a pair of side members 18 provided with openingsat opposite ends thereof for rotatably receiving horizontal axles orshafts 19. Wheels 17 are fixed to opposite ends of the shafts so thatthe shafts are set in rotation as the carriage advances and retractsalong tracks 15.

Between the side members or plates 18 and fixed to the shafts 19 are apair of cylindrical drums 20. A transfer belt 21 extends about thespaced drums or rollers 20 and, since the rollers are secured to shafts19, the beltrotates with respect to the carriage as the carriage movesalong its tracks. It is important and should be noted, however, that thelower stretch 21a of the belt will remain stationary with respect to thetracks; that is, the lower stretch will not shift longitudinally withrespect to the tracks or transversely with respect to the channels ofplatform support 1i). If desired, the belts lower stretch may be fixedby bracket 22 to the side tracks 15.

The carriage is reciprocated by means of a cylindrical cam shaft 23which has an endless spiral groove 24 therein. A rider 25 travels alongthe groove and is pivotally secured to a depending strap portion 26provided by the side plates 18 of the carriage. As shown in FIGURE 2,the cylindrical cam is carried by a shaft 27 which is journaled in frameportion 28 and which is driven by an electric motor 29, or any othersuitable driving means. Pulleys 3t) and 31, and belt 32, operativelyconnect the motor and the shaft for the cylindrical cam. It will beobserved that the cam has its horizontal axis parallel with thedirection of movement of the carriage and at right angles to thedirection of channels 12 and partitions 11.

At the forward end of the carriage and traversing the underside ofendless belt 21 is a stripper element 33. The stripper elementessentially comprises a horizontally elongated plate which extendsacross the carriage and which slopes upwardly and forwardly with respectthereto. The upper edge of the plate contacts, or is disposed inextremely close proximity to, the outer surface of belt 21 as it passesbeneath the front roller 26 of the carriage. As shown in FIGURES 2 and5, the stripper element may be supported from the side members 18 bydepending support arms 34.

The structure so far described is adapted for use in conjunction withconventional rotary bacon slicers which are capable of beingsynchronized with the reciprocatory operation of the carriage. As iswell known, a conventional rotary'slicer of the type designatedgenerally by the numeral is provided with a driven cutting blade 3:;which is shaped to cut a slice of bacon (or other food product) from aslab 37 with each rotationof the blade. A deflecting skirt portion 33provided by the blade directs the cut slices in a desired direction,normally downwardly and away from the blade, after the slices are cut.Since the construction and operation of such a slicer is entirelyconventional, further description of the slicer, except as to thosefeatures which relate to its synchronization with the reciprocablecarriage, is believed unnecessary herein.

Referring to FIGURE 2, it will be noted that the slicer is provided witha slab-supporting plate 39. A pusher element 4% advances a formed slabalong the support and into contact with the slicing blade 36. In theillustration given, this pusher element is advanced by rotation of athreaded shaft 41 extending therethrough, the shaft being supportedagainst axial and transverse movement with respect to the support 3% butbeing rotatably driven by drive gear 42 and pinion 43, the drive gearbeing part of a gear train comprising gears 44 and 45 which connect thecam shaft 27, intermediate shaft 4-6 and the shaft of motor 29 forsimultaneous rotation. The pusher element ill is equipped with asectioned and pivotally mounted nut 47 which normally engages thethreads of shaft i l but which may be 1 pivoted away from the shaft bymovement of release lever 48. Thus, by manipulating the release lever,an operator may release thepusher elements from operative engagementwith threaded shaft 41 and may retract the pusher into a startingposition for the placement of a new slab or slabs 37 upon support 3h. InFIGURE 3 it will be observed that drive gear 42 is provided with teeth49 over only a portion of its circumference, whereas the teeth 50 ofpinion 43 extend about the entire circumference thereof. For reasonswhich will be apparent from the description hereinafter, the arc of thetoothed portion of gear 42 is of an extent sufficient to rotate pinion43 only so long as carriage 14 advances towards and over the platform orbed 10.

Referring to FIGURES l and 5, a feed roll 51 is carricd by transverseshaft 52 at one end .of the bed or platform 10, the roll providing asupply of grease-resistant paper or other suitable sheet material. Theunwound portion 53 of the sheet extends beneath a plurality of circularcutting knives 54 arranged in spaced relation along horizontal shaft 55and in parallel relation with respect to the partitions ll of the bed.The cutters 54 thereby slice the unwound sheet 53 into a plurality ofwebs or strips 56 which extend along channels 12 beneath the transversepath of movement of the reciprocable carriage.

\ At the opposite end of the bed or platform is a rewind mechanismillustrated somewhat diagrammatically in FIGURES 1, and 6. The rewinder57 is conventional in construction and general operation and comprises aplurality of shafts 58 carried by turret members 59 and 6t) androtatably driven by a belt 61 entrained about driven pulleys 62connected to the shafts and about drive pulley 63 affixed to the shaftof motor 64. The rotatable turrets are rotated at selected intervals inthe direction indicated by arrow 65 in FIGURE 5, thereby indexing shafts58 into web-receiving and winding positions. A suitable indexingmechanism 66 is provided for energizing motor 64 and therebyautomatically indexing the webs 56 forwardly or longitudinally apredetermined distance as the carriage retracts. Proper tension of belt61 is maintained by an idler wheel 67 carried by an arm 68.

connected to spring 69, the spring urging the wheel into contact withthe belt as shown in FIGURE 6. Since the rewind mechanism isconventional and since such mecha nisms are well known in the art,further description is believed unnecessary herein except insofar assuch mechanism relates specifically to the operation of the otherCOIII'. ponents of the apparatus.

If desired, a spring loaded flattening roller 70, mounted upon overheadframe portion 71 and carried by springs 72 may be provided between thefeed or transfer mechanism 13 and the rewinder 57 to insure that baconor food slices 73 he flat upon the upper surfaces of webs or strips 56.In the illustration given, the force of the flattening roller is opposedby a backing roller 74 mounted for rotation about a stationary axisdirectly beneath the fiattening roller and webs 56. If considerednecessary or desirable, the flattening roller may bewarmed by anysuitable heating means to prevent slices from clinging thereto.

In the operation of the apparatus, a slab of bacon, before being placedupon support 39, is shaped in a former as diagrammatically representedin FIGURE 1 and designated by the numeral 75. This forming step isconventional and is mentioned in connection with the apparatus of thepresent invention only because it is important to form the slab so thatthe slices to be cut therefrom will have a width no greater thanthewidth of channels 12 of the platform or of the webs receivedwithinthose channels.

With the formed slab in place upon support 39,an operator adjusts theposition of pusher 40 so that the slab will be urged against theconstantly rotating slicing blade 36 as soon as threaded shaft 41commences rotation. As previously mentioned, shaft 41 starts rotating toadvance the pusher 46 only when the carriage 14 advances, that is, whenthe carriage moves from the left to the right as viewed in'FIGURE 2.,The rate of advancement of the carriage is governed by the speed ofrotation of cylindrical cam 23, and this speed is in turn relatedto therotational speed of the cutter so that the upper stretch 21b of thecarriage belt will move away from the slicing station slightly fasterthan the rate at which slices are deposited thereon. Thus, a slightgapwill be drawn between the slices as they are deposited upon theforwardly moving belt surface 21b, and the distance between the centersof adjacent slices disposed upon the belt will be substantiallyidentical to the distance between the centers of adjacent webs 56supported upon the bed or pl-atform 16.

Drive gear 42 meshes with pinion 43 only until the number of slicesdeposited upon belt 21 equals the number of webs carried by bed 10.Thereafter, the drive gear disengages from the pinion and theadvancement of pusher 40 is discontinued until the next cycle. ofmovement of the carriage.-

When the carriage is in its retracted position, and when the first sliceof a group of slices is deposited upon the belt 21, carriage 14 isspaced laterally with respect to bed It). It is not until after a numberof slices have been deposited upon the belt that the foremost slice iscarried about front roller 20 and engages stripper element 33. The bedand carriage. are positioned and arranged so that when the first sliceof a group is carrier into contact with the stripper plate, the sliceand the plate will be moving into position directly above the firstchannel (i.e., the first encountered channel) of the bed. Continuedadvancement of the carriage results in a stripping of the foremost slicefrom the undersurtace of the belt and the depositing of that slice uponthe Web supported within the first channel. Further advancement of thecarriage brings the second slice into contact with the stripper elementand results in a depositing of that slice onto the web of the secondchannel, and this operation is continued until all of the slices carriedby the belt 21 are deposited into the web-supporting channels of the bedfrom one side of the bed to the other.

It will be noted that the slices are deposited upon belt 21 in atransverse direction, and since the carriage travels at right angleswith respect to the channels of the bed, the slices deposited upon thewebswill extend in parallel relation therewith.

When all of the slices of a single series or group have been depositedupon the webs supported by the bed, carriage 14 is returned to itsretracted position by the action of the grooved cylindrical cam 23.During this retraction of the carriage, the indexing mechanism 66 isactuated and all of the webs 56 are advanced along the channels of thebed a distance slightly greater than the arsaesa .above operation isthen repeated to deposit a second group of slices upon the parallel webs56.

To speed retraction of the carriage, it may be desirable to provide acylindrical cam 23 of the type represented in FIGURE 4. Cam 23 isidentical to the cam 23 already described except that the slope of theadvancing and retracting portions of groove 24' are different, the angle(with respect to the axis of the cam) being less for the carriageretracting portion of the groove and thereby causing the carriage toretract at a faster rate than it advances.

After rolls 76 of approximately the desired size have been formed uponone of the spindles or shafts 58, the turret is rotated one third of arevolution and the torn or cut ends of the Webs supported by theplatform (or by the backing roller 74) are brought into contact with anunloaded spindle 58 to commence winding of the Webs thereon. The loadedspindle, having been lowered into the position illustrated by brokenlines 77 in FIGURE 5, is disconnected from the turret and the rolls ofbacon are slid therefrom. These rolls are then weighed at a suitableweighing station diagrammatically represented in FIGURE 1 and designatedby the numeral 78, and slices are either added or subtracted therefromin order to obtain rolls of the desired weight. Thereafter, the rollsare placed within car-tons of the type disclosed in Patent 3,015,583, ata station designated by the numeral 79, and the packaged rolls are thenplaced withinlarger containers for shipment at a station designated bythe numeral 80.

An important aspect of the present invention lies in the fact that whilethe carriage 14 travels horizontally with respect to the bed or platformIt the lower stretch 21a of the belt is stationary with regard to thebed. This fact is significant in properly stripping slices from the beltand in depositing those slices, without twisting, dislo cating, orrolling thereof, upon the webs 56 disposed within the channels of thebed. Since the lower stretch of the belt and the bed are stationary withrespect to each other, the problems of properly orienting the sliceswhich might otherwise arise because of the momentum thereof are avoidedfor all practical purposes.

In the foregoing, I have described the carriage as moving over the bed,although it is to be understood that it is the relative movement betweenthe parts that is essential for operation of the apparatus.

While in the foregoing I have disclosed an embodiment of the inventionin considerable detail for purposes of illustration, it will beunderstood by those skilled in the art that many of these details may bevaried without departing from the spirit and'scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. In a food slice packaging machine for the packaging of discrete foodslices capable of sticking to a supporting surface, a horizontalplatform adapted to support a plurality of longitudinally-extendingparallel webs of sheet material thereon, a reciprocable carriage movablehori zontally and transversely relative to said platform between anadvanced position over said platform and a retracted position to oneside of said platform, said carriage being provided with abelt extendinghorizontally and transversely with respect to said platform and carriedby a pair of rollers and having their rotation axes extending parallelwith reference to said platform, means rotating said belt upon saidrollers as said carriage is advanced so that the lower stretch of saidbelt remains substantially stationary with respect to said platform,means for dispensing food slices at a preselected rate upon the upperstretch of said belt as said carriage is moved between retracted andadvanced positions, and stripping means provided by said carriage andmovable therewith for peeling-food slices from the lower stretch of saidbelt as said carriage moves from its retracted to its advanced position,whereby, food slices are peeled and transferred from the lower tretch ofsaid belt while said lower stretch is stationary relative to saidplatform.

2. The structure of claim 1 in which said belt has its lower stretchsecured to said platform.

3. The structure of claim 1 in which means are operatively associatedwith said platform and synchronized with said carriage for indexing webslongitudinally along said platform as said carriage retracts.

4. In a machine for packaging discrete food slices capable of stickingto a supporting surface, a horizontal platform adapted to support aplurality of longitudinallyextending parallel webs of sheet materialthereon, a reciprocable carriage provided with a belt extendinghorizontally and transversely with respect to said platform and carriedby a pair of rollers having their rotational axes extendinglongitudinally of said platform, said carriage and platform beingmovable relative to each other between a first position wherein saidcarriage is disposed over said platformand a second position whereinsaid carriage is disposed to one side of said platform, means forrotating said belt upon said rollers as said carriage is moved from arelative position from one sideof said platform to a point over saidplatform so that the lower stretch of said belt remains substantiallystationary with respect to the platform during such movement, and astripping element mounted upon said carriage for engaging and peelingfood slices from the lower stretch of said belt as the relative movementof said carriage is from said second position to said first position,whereby, food slices are peeled and transferred from the lower stretchof said belt while said lower stretch is stationary relative to saidplatform.

5. The structure of claim 4 in which means are provided for dispensingfood slices at a preselected rate upon the upper stretch of said belt assaid belt is rotated.

6. The structure of claim 4 in which the lower stretch of said belt isattached to said platform.

7. The structure of claim 4 in which means are operatiwely associatedwith said platform and synchronized with the relative movement of saidcarriage and platform to index longitudinally the webs supported by saidplatform as said carriage and platform move apart.

8. In a machine for the packaging of discrete bacon slices, a horizontalplatform adapted to support a plurality of longitudinally-extendingparallel webs of sheet material thereon, a reciprocable carriage movablehorizontally and transversely with respect to said platform between anadvanced position over said platform and a retracted position to oneside thereof, said carriage being provided with a belt extendinghorizontally and and transversely with respect to said platform andcarried by a pair of rollers having their rotational axes extendinglongitudinally of the platform, means rotating said belt upon saidrollers as said carriage is advanced so that the lower stretch of saidbelt remains substantially stationary with respect to said platform,means for dispensing bacon shoes at a selected rate upon the upperstretch of said belt as said carriage is moved between retracted andadvanced positions, means for advancing and retracting said carriage,and a stripping element provided by said carriage and movable therewithfor engaging and peeling bacon slices from the lower stretch of saidbelt as said carriage moves from its retracted to its advanced position,whereby, bacon slices are peeled and transferred from the lower stretchof said belt while said lower stretch is stationary relative to saidplatform.

9. The structure of claim 8 in which said belt is endless and has itslower stretch secured to said platform.

10. The structure of claim 8 in which a pair of parallel horizontaltracks extend over said platform, said carriage being provided withwheels supported by said tracks.

11. The structure of claim 10 in which at least one of 7 a a said wheelsis fixed to a $0116! of said carriage forrbtating 3,009,299 11/61Mahaffy 'et a1. V 53 54 said belt as said carriage is shifted batweenadvanced and 3,019,578 2/ 62 Cohen 53123 retracted positions. 3,020,6872/62 10a 53-123 X ReferencesCited by the Examiner 5 1021555 3/62 Schesch"ff" 53-41 UNITED STATES PATENTS FRANK E. BAILEY, Primary Examiner.

2,472,073 6/49 'Haecks 53-423 X 2,949,034 8/60 Johnson et a1. 53 123 XRAVE MCGEHEE Examl'ler'

1. IN A FOOD SLICE PACKAGING MACHINE FOR THE PACKAGING OF DISCRETE FOODSLICES CAPABLE OF STICKING TO A SUPPORTING SURFACE, A HORIZONTALPLATFORM ADATPED TO SUPPORT A PLURALITY OF LONGITUDINALLY-EXTENDINGPARALLEL WEBS OF SHEET MATERIAL THEREON, A RECIPROCABLE CARRIAGE MOVABLEHORIZONTALLY AND TRANSVERSELY RELATIVE TO SAID PLATFORM BETWEEN ANDADVANCED POSITION OVER SAID PLATFORM AND A RETRACTED POSITION TO ONESIDE OF SAID PLATFORM, SAID CARRIAGE BEING PROVIDED WITH A BELTEXTENDING HORIZONTALLY AND TRANSVERSELY WITH RESPECT TO SAID PLATFORMAND CARRIED BY A PAIR OF ROLLERS AND HAVING THEIR ROTATION AXESEXTENDING PARALLEL WITH REFERENCE TO SAID PLATFORM, MEANS ROTATING SAIDBELT UPON SAID ROLLERS AS SAID PLATFORM, MEANS FOR SO THAT THE LOWERSTRETCH OF SAID BELT REMAINS SUBSTANTIALLY STATIONARY WITH RESPECT TOSAID PLATFORM, MEANS FOR DISPENSING FOOD SLICES AT A PRESELECTED RATEUPON THE UPPER STRETCH OF SAID BELT AS SAID CARRIAGE IS MOVED BETWEENRETRACTED AND ADVANCED POSITIONS, AND STRIPPING MEANS PROVIDED BY SAIDCARRIAGE AND MOVABLE THEREWITH FOR PEELING FOOD SLICES FROM THE LOWERSTRETCH OF SAID BELT AS SAID CARRIAGE MOVES FROM ITS RETRACTED TO ITSTRANSFERRED POSITION, WHEREBY, FOOD SLICES ARE PEELED AND TRANSFERREDFROM THE LOWER STRETCH OF SAID BELT WHILE SAID LOWER STRETCH ISSTATIONARY RELATIVE TO SAID PLATFORM.